Founded in 1947, Glenn Metalcraft Inc. (GMI) provides high-quality expertise and services to countless businesses. GMI became one of the first U.S. companies to invest in innovative CNC spin technology to present clients with superior metal spinning services. It remains committed to a high standard of excellence and customer satisfaction.

By prioritizing the relationship between Glenn Metalcraft’s employees and customers, GMI delivers quality customer service and skilled craftsmanship to ensure it meets every customer’s needs. In addition to superior metal spinning services, GMI’s roster of metal industry experts allows the firm to recommend the best materials for new products, review engineering designs, and create cost-reduction solutions.

Your success is Glenn Metalcraft Inc.’s success. But don’t just take our word for it ‒ contact us today and learn more about what makes GMI a superior metal spinning company.

Superior Metal Spinning

Metal spinning, also called spin forming, spinning, or metal turning is the process of rotating a tube or disc of metal at a high speed and applying localized pressure to shape the metal, which is similar to the method used in clay pottery. The process, which creates an axially symmetrical product, can be done by hand or performed by a machine.

Artisans and commercial companies use metal spinning to produce high-quality metal parts for various industries, including home goods, science and technology, and automobiles.

The metal spinning process is cost-effective and produces very little material waste.

Any form of ductile metal can be used in metal spinning, such as aluminum, stainless steel, carbon steel, copper, brass, Hastelloy, Inconel, and titanium. The diameter for metal spun through this process can range between one inch to eight feet.

How Does It Work?

Examples of spinning tools litter history. The Ancient Egyptians used manual spinning techniques to create everyday tools or build architectural masterpieces. The process shifted in the Middle Ages to metalwork and would eventually become the machine-operated precision heavy gauge metal spinning it is today.

To begin the spinning process with a CNC machine, a pre-cut sheet of metal also called a blank, is clamped between the mandrel and tailstock of the spinning machine. A primary drive rotates the mandrel and tailstock as a spinning roller performs a series of passes over the block to change its shape.

A skilled hand spinner can also manually spin and shape a piece of metal by applying a roller by hand.

Advantages of Using GMI

By using Glenn Metalcraft Inc., you can expect to receive the highest-quality metal spun parts at great prices. GMI’s employees are focused on forging strong relationships with customers to provide the best service possible. Some advantages to working with Glenn Metalcraft Inc. include:

its efficient work center equipped with a mechanical workhorse and a CNC lathe
access to GMI’s metal spinning experts
cost-effective solutions for the OEM industry
incredible customer service from the moment you create an order

GMI’s Work Center and CNC Lathe

GMI has increased capacity by adding the 48 ROBOT – R 2000IB 165F to its workspace, which can handle large, heavy parts throughout the shop. This mechanical workhorse speeds up production time by allowing GMI employees to focus on quickly and efficiently creating your product with the company’s CNC metal spinning machine.

GMI’s CNC metal spinning machine is programmed to inspect parts for quality control to ensure every component created meets the highest standard. The machine is capable of in-cell deburring, has flexible pack-out options, and is equipped with two vacuum circuits and two pressure circuits.

This machine can perform different processes without needing additional tools so that clients can set up with GMI under one purchase order. The CNC machine creates parts with maximum accuracy, flexibility, and efficiency in a short amount of time, ensuring GMI’s customers receive the best product as quickly as possible.

GMI is always looking for new ways to increase efficiency and introduce innovative technology to continue to meet customer’s evolving needs.

Metal Spinning Experts

A machine is only as good as the person operating it. At Glenn Metalcraft Inc., our craftsmen work with our equipment within tight tolerances to meet each customer’s specifications and standards. Our craftsmen are also skilled in robotic welding, punching, automated machining, assembly, and waterjet cutting.

GMI’s employees have mastered the latest innovations and technology in the metal spinning industry to provide customers with the best and most reliable parts. GMI is part of the Elemet Group of metalworking companies, which provides access to GMI’s sister companies, Minnesota Industrial Coatings, and Elemet Manufacturing, to offer additional finishing and fabricating services to interested clients.

Steel-Forged Customer Relationships

As a local, family-owned business, GMI understands the importance of the relationship between company and customer. You can count on communicating with staff members who see your success as their personal triumph and who will work hard to ensure they meet every one of your needs.

Because Glenn Metalcraft Inc. wants to grow in the right direction, GMI ensures every type of work accepted fits into the company’s overarching beliefs and goals. GMI knows how critical it is to choose the business that will fit the needs of your company.

GMI has locations in Fort Worth, Texas, and Princeton, Minnesota, with customers located nationwide. GMI is a business-to-business (B2B) company and is excited to work with your company.

Get Started With GMI Today

Let GMI’s expert craftsmen help you succeed with superior metal spinning services, access to industry-leading metalwork expertise, and innovative technology. GMI prioritizes consistency, excellence, and accuracy for every job.

GMI made providing innovative solutions to customers’ metalwork needs its mission. The company is constantly adding capabilities, automation, and capacity. It is committed to giving customers an environment of respect where they are allowed to grow and develop. The firm strives for success which translates into a desire to see its customers succeed, ensuring beneficial and lasting relationships.

Glenn Metalcraft not only serves as a leader in its industry because of the innovative and cutting-edge technology and equipment used by highly trained professionals. But also because GMI wants to provide the best experience and products for its customers.

Get started with Glenn Metalcraft and get an estimate today.

Metal spinning, sometimes called spin forming, has been around for centuries and can be traced back to an Egyptian Pharaoh’s tomb. Fascinating – but what is it? What the Egyptians accomplished with manually operated lathes, the Industrial Revolution motorized and gave birth to new possibilities.

Spinning, forming, turning… all names for precision heavy gauge metal spinning, and Glenn Metalcraft is the expert. Contact us about your OEM project today.

What Is Metal Spinning?

The metalworking process known as “metal spinning” goes by many different names, such as spin forming, metal forming, metal turning, CNC metal spinning, or just “spinning.”

Metal spinning is a process whereby a sheet of metal, cut into a flat metal disc, or blank, is formed into different symmetrical rounded shapes through spinning it around a mandrel. A mandrel is a shaft or spindle in a spinning lathe or a CNC spinning metal lathe to form the metal disc’s desired metal parts.

The most common shapes produced from the metal spinning process are:

Conical (cone-shaped)
Dished
Domed
Cylindrical (lid-shaped)
Flanged; flanged and flued; or flanged, dished, and flued
Hemispherical (half of a sphere)
Parabolic (bell-shaped)
Semi-elliptical
Toroidal (donut-shaped)
Trumpeted
Venturi (hourglass-shaped)

We use many different porous metals to achieve these desired shapes through metal spinning. Common materials include steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, and brass. High-strength and high-temperature alloys, such as Hastelloy and titanium, are also becoming more popular, creating more durable metal parts.

Metal spinning produces parts that touch almost every part of your life. We use these in roofing, commercial lighting, satellite dishes, cooking pots and pans, and even funeral urns.

Alternatives To Metal Spinning

Alternatives to metal spinning include hydroforming, stamping, and deep drawn stamping.

While these alternatives can form many of the same shapes as metal spinning, the processes are very different. For starters, these other options all use different methods to craft the metal into the shapes using negative shapes.

Hydroforming uses high-pressure hydraulic fluid to press the metal into a negative form to achieve the desired metal parts.

Stamping and deep drawn stamping use forced pressure to create the shapes by pushing the metal disc into a negative space.

Metal spinning is the only one that uses “positive space” to craft the shape around a piece to achieve the desired result.

Advantages Of Metal Spinning

Metal spinning is one of the most cost-effective methods of forming metal shapes for small-volume and large-volume production. This cost-effectiveness is the highest reason that it’s so popular.

What other advantages does metal spinning offer over its alternatives?

Less machining and finishing needed to finish the job

Because of the high spinning rate needed to form the desired shape, less machining is needed after the part is formed with the CNC lathe. Metal parts finish smoother, and the need for these extra finishing tools is reduced.

Quicker set-up

Your company can also get set up for metal spinning much more quickly than the alternatives you’ve already read about. Because of this, lead times are reduced.

Maximum design flexibility and more versatility for changes

If you need a design change, it can be made much more quickly with the metal spinning process. This flexibility cuts out “downtime” for your project, should a change need to be made. This is also why metal spinning is perfect for prototyping and small-volume and large-volume production runs.

More uniform finished products

Metalworkers who create parts through the metal spinning process often cite that they have much more control over the finished product, including the finished piece’s thickness.

Less waste

Finally, because of how the metal is spun, waste is reduced. This also makes metal spinning much more eco-friendly than the other methods you have read about above. In some cases, you can even use recycled materials as the “blanks” for your metal parts.

Higher quality parts

Because of the process of metal spinning, parts are formed without any seams. This seamlessness means that these parts are less likely to “break apart” under high-stress conditions.

What Industries Benefit From Your Metal Spinning Process?

Metal spinning parts touch almost every industry in the world.

Common industries, though, include:

Aeronautics and Aerospace
Agricultural & Farming Equipment
Appliances & Appliance Manufacturing
Architectural, Building, & Construction
Automotive
Bulk Solid Handling & Supply Chain Logistics
Chemical Processing
Commercial Lighting
Commercial Vehicles
Communications
Electrical
Energy
Food Processing
Food Service
HVAC, Air Filtration, & Air Handling
Industrial Machinery
Lighting
Marine
Material Handling
Medical
Pollution Control
Railroad
Recreational equipment
Refrigeration
Retail Fixtures
Roofing
Safety Products
Sanitation
Transportation
Welding

No matter what industry you are in, however, Glenn Metalcraft is the expert when it comes to precision heavy gauge metal spinning. Contact us about your OEM project today. We answer inquiries for RFPs/RFQs within 48 hours or 2 business days.